


Dimmed Star

by IvaWrote



Category: Gravity Rush
Genre: Broken!Kat, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 07:46:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9983813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvaWrote/pseuds/IvaWrote
Summary: Eugie's never seen that look on her face before. It wasn't surprise, or anger, or even the resigned amusement he'd gotten used to from her.It was defeat.(A what if based on the idea that Kat doesn't keep going and finally gives up)





	1. Bitter Reunion

The one thing Eugie can be counted on to do is be an asshole. Yeah, usually he didn’t say much – working an ice cream store rarely had jack for him to say – his dad ran the register and gave him the orders, so he was great at serving ice cream to people. But his dad would be the first to say he didn’t need to _talk_ to them at all.

Not that he was all that great at talking to them in the first place. Even when he wasn’t working – and his dad insisted that he have some days off to ‘make friends’, Eugie didn’t have friends. He’s a shitty kid and knows it. He was well aware of that fact, when looking at his father’s back every time he wandered off to go get some alcohol and drink away his evenings. His life wasn’t going to get better. He was a shitty, bratty kid, and he wasn’t friend material.

Sure, he had acquaintances, if you wanted to apply that term to the bratty, whiny trust fund babies that would gather around him whenever he came by and lord their superiority over him. They thought his brand of sarcasm was ‘edgy’, whatever that fucking was.

He didn’t call them friends. Just useful future investors. He’d skin them for their money later, when they inherited everything. They had more money than sense.

Kat would have called him out on it. She _did_ call him out on it. Fuck, Kat really didn’t seem to care at all about the why – she only cared that the results made him a shitty kid. She used to drag him places – make him meet people he never would have looked at twice otherwise. Eugie has to wonder what was in it for her, and she never told him.

Sometimes he wonders if Kat felt guilty for leaving, right as he’d finally started seeing things her way. Most of the times, he makes himself forget about her – because that’s a can of worms he really doesn’t want to open. The thought of her looking at what he is now, and the look on her face… He really didn’t want to see it.

He’s dragged out of his thoughts by the Grigos – they’re quick to start chivvying people away, and before one can actually get near him, he hauls himself back into his little food truck. His dad was probably in a building somewhere, but he couldn’t be bothered to deal with it, huddling against the cold metal and muttering a curse.

It annoyed him how long these things took. When Kat was around, it never took more than five minutes before the Nevi got packing. Kat always took her job seriously, and Kali…

She fucking _postured_. He hates that – she shouldn’t be showing off when there was a goddamn job to do. But this time, the battle is over very quickly – almost Kat-levels of fast. The fucking Grigos of course slowed it down, but he was sure he caught sight of a familiar figure, before the crowd swarmed Kali. Striding up, Eugie nudges his way through the crowd. Kali was a popular figure – if he got up front, he might get a chance to talk to her – maybe boost the business. He joins up with his father halfway through, and he’s almost there. Except for one person in his way.

“Aww, move it will ya? I can’t see Kali with you in the way.” He complains, the blonde in front of him stumbling over her feet, giving a surprised cry. When she turns around, he blinks in surprised pleasure. “Huh… Wait…” A second glance confirms it. It’s Kat! She doesn’t seem to have aged at all. “It _is_ you,” He can’t help but grin a little. “When did you get back?” He knows his father’s nearby, and ignoring her lost expression, calls out for his father. “Heeey! Pops! Over here!” She seems to recognize them both, and a brief smile flits over her features as she recognizes him. When she makes to mention his change, he rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m Eugie, but don’t go makin’ a big deal about how big I got.” She still looks horribly lost, and the revelation that it’s been three years makes her step back.

“Three… years?” Eugie realizes that her expression isn’t just lost – it’s devastated. The line of her shoulders immediately slumps down, and her features slide quickly into defeat. His father doesn’t make things easier on her.

“How do I, uh, put this delicately, you’re…” As he fumbles for the word, Eugie gives a sigh, and tacks it on before they get stuck here for an hour or worse.

“Irrelevant.” He said bluntly. The look of hurt on her face is a bit more than he expected, and as the conversation devolves to him picking on his father, he can’t help but notice that Kat looked almost horribly close to tears. She takes a step back, then another, and he looks at her oddly. “Hey.” She stops, and Dusty meows at her, pawing her feet gently. She doesn’t look at her cat, and after a glance, he looks her in the eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, and he’s greeted by the oddest sight. She looks lost, confused, and close to tears.

“I’m fine.” She said unsteadily. “I’ll be fine…” That wasn’t convincing in the slightest, but before he could say anything, Kat scooped up her pet and ran. Beside him, his father clucks his tongue disapprovingly.

“What’s with her? You’d think she’d be happier now that she’s back.” Aujean remarked. Eugie couldn’t help but feel a little bit irritated with his father for that. She didn’t look happy at all to him. His expression shifts away, and he sighs, turning away from the space she had been to glance at Kali.

“I think I have an idea why.” He answered darkly, but doesn’t answer when his father looks curiously at him. What had happened while she was gone?

Why was she _alone_?

That thought haunted him for the rest of the day.


	2. Pleasure Quarter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's looking for her, but she doesn't make it damn easy.

The next morning, Eugie is poking at the lumpy oatmeal his father had seen fit to make – cooking was not his strong suit, Eugie thinks sourly – when his father pipes up.

“You okay Eugie? You haven’t eaten anything.” His head was propped up in a hand, and he stares at his meal, poking it carefully. At the quiet statement, Eugie’s head snaps up.

“Uh, what?” He blinks at his father, before registering what he’d said. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine Pops. Just a long night is all.” His father doesn’t look convinced, but the subject is dropped in favor of reading the newspaper.

“Kids these days… don’t tell their parents a thing.” He grumbles it half-heartedly, and Eugie rolls his eyes again. He’s quick to finish breakfast – being a teen is hard enough when he’s not hungry – going on an empty stomach isn’t something he’s up to doing.

“Uh, Pops… I’m taking a day off.” His father looks surprised, before squinting at him.

“You don’t have some girl on the side, do ya?” His father asked, and Eugie, out of surprise, nearly drops his beanie.

“What? No, Jesus Pop!” He snaps, and his father takes that as confirmation, wailing about how mistrusting his child was. With an irritated snarl, Eugie slams the door shut behind him. His neighbor doesn’t even blink, smirking in his direction and laughing when Eugie flips him the bird.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” Mian leans over the railing, looking curious. “I mean, a that girl must be a masochist, hanging out with someone like you.” Eugie’s scowl deepens, and he tugs on his hoodie a little harder than normal.

“Shut it asshole. I don’t see girls flocking around your lazy ass either.” He snapped, getting the pleasure of Mian’s expression shuttering into a scowl.

“Jesus Eugie, I’m teasing. Don’t get your goddamn panties in a knot.” Eugie scoffs back.

“Right. And I’m taller than the World Pillar.” Eugie rolls his eyes again, and before Mian can interject, he jumps over the railing of his house, landing on the pipe that led to the park. He holds himself steady for a moment, before turning towards the park and walking his way down the curved surface. He ignores the shouting, grinning a little to himself. Oh yeah, pissing off Mian was fun. Hauling himself over the metal guardrail, he glances down. He’d heard Kat had been here before… That she’d landed in the park. His thoughts took another downward turn, and he huffed under his breath.

Fucking Kat. The thought doesn’t leave him, even as he heads up to the train station to go to Pleajeune. He hadn’t caught up with his acquaintances lately. When he arrived, he realized that classes probably wouldn’t start for another hour – which meant his targets wouldn’t be playing hooky as of yet.

They irritate him, he realizes – being such lazy fucks that they can’t be bothered to goddamn go to the best – _only_ – school in the entire region. As he thinks that, Eugie finds himself bumping into a taller figure.

Biting off a curse, Eugie stumbles back.

“Sorry, sorry!” He blurts out, and he gets a slight laugh, a hand resting on his shoulder.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t paying attention either.” Looking up, Eugie recognizes the features of the red-headed man. “Oh, hey, Eugie,” Newt’s smile is warm and open, and he waves his wife over. Echo seemed to be in high spirits, despite being pretty pregnant. But then again, Echo had always been very mild-mannered.

“Uh, hey Echo.” Eugie always felt awkward talking to Echo – he’d only ever insulted her once, but the way she’d reacted had been like kicking a puppy.

Repeatedly. He wasn't that much of an asshole, thanks.

“How’s the baby?” He asked finally, and both of them looked surprised and pleased at his question. He’d never bothered to pay them any mind before, something that had always frustrated Kat when she had been around.

“Wonderfully,” Echo said happily, snapping him out of his introspective daze. “In fact, we got a name for our baby yesterday from Aki – though she seemed distracted, like she was waiting for someone.” Eugie’s expression tightens slightly, and while Echo – still talking to him in that soft mannered way of hers – didn’t notice – Newt did. When Echo wandered a little away, Newt leaned over.

“What’s wrong?” The question is innocent, but Eugie just shrugs helplessly.

“Nothing… Really, it ain’t a big deal.”

“Isn’t.” The mild-mannered correction makes him wrinkle his nose, and Newt chuckles. “Sorry, sorry, old habits die hard.” Eugie pulls a face at him, and Newt chuckled again. “If you feel up to making faces at me, you’re perfectly fine.” Eugie manages a slightly cocky smirk in return. Newt’s not too bad, for an adult – he still remembered him from before Kat left. They’d stopped talking as often, but it was good to see some things hadn’t changed. The thought alone reminds him of his self-appointed task, and he quietly speaks up.

“Has anyone new been around lately? There’s been talk about a new person around town.” Newt’s eyes light, and he looks hopeful.

“You think it’s her?” Newt said quietly – hopeful. “Echo’s still holding out hope that she’ll come back in time to be our daughter’s godmother.” Eugie more than _thinks_ she’s back, but he bites his tongue and nods. He wasn’t going to tell Newt she was back before she did.

He was a shitty person, but not _that_ level of shitty. A slight shake of his head, and he looks away. “I don’t know. I kind of hope it is.” Newt made a sound of agreement, and he moved away.

“I’ve got to go – classes start in half an hour.” Newt waved goodbye, and sullenly, Eugie returned it, tugging his beanie down over his ears.

That didn’t help any at all. And he was forced to concede – after scouring all of Pleajeune – she was nowhere to be found in the registered cities.


	3. Endestria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damn his conscience. Fucking damn it.

It took some wandering before Eugie finally admitted to himself that he had no fucking idea where Kat was. After their incredibly short, slightly (very) unsettling meeting, Kat had vanished into the ether, like a mirage. A subtle prodding of the citizens while they came to get ice-cream from his mother’s shop had given him no insights, and while he was definitely starting to wonder if he ought to ask Aki, Eugie didn’t want to ring up a huge bill just to placate his damn curiosity. He hops off of the train to Pleajeune, hearing the rush of people up the stairs to the school more than he saw it, slowly walking to the end of the platform, the train tracks from the abandoned district of Endestria fading into the mist of the clouds that had decided to hang around the pillar for a few days.

He’d visited Endestria once after it had been shut down, out of morbid curiosity of what had happened to the place that had once held the Storm Shield, and he’d found it to be way too depressing for his taste. The defeated air, the quiet shuffle of people as they desperately searched for a home among the desolate ruins of what had once been a thriving economy. He winces to himself. This was just damn depressing, and it made his skin crawl, even though he knew that it was just the atmosphere. He shakes himself out of his thoughts and realizes sullenly that he’s missed his chance to go and skin those idiots for free money. But eh. The nagging feeling that kept digging into the pit of his stomach wouldn’t go away.

Creator save him. He was actually thinking of heading there. Whatever she did or said, she was a big girl, and she could handle herself. She’d faced worse things. Duly decided, Eugie stands up and turns to walk away.

 _But she’s alone now_. The niggling of his conscience made him grip at the white fabric of his beanie, anger and frustration in his features as he snarls at the traitorous thoughts in his head.

Thankfully, there’s nobody there to watch his inner moral dilemma – classes are in full swing and even the assholes aren’t stupid enough to get on Newt’s bad side, new teacher or not. He had been a popular student in his time, and he had plenty of respect from the students and veteran teachers alike – enough to make any fool think twice about crossing him. And he knew that they’d been reassigned to Newt – it was all they could talk about last time they had all met up. Eugie glances down at the railing.

 _Fuck it_.

He’s going ahead and looking for her. He can’t get that look on her face out of his damn mind. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her look upset before – the incident of losing his house comes to mind, and he stomps on the guilt irritably – but it was just the way she’d reacted. She had been welcomed home, disregarding the less than saccharine greetings, and she had bolted.

Something about the lost, forsaken look in her eyes had hit him hard. She had been crushed, worse than he’d ever seen her, and it chilled him, to know something had finally hit her where it hurt most.

He wanted to know what did it. Not because he cared (liar hah he wanted to smash the face in of what the fuck was responsible), but because he was curious. He was a brat and a kid and a shitty one at that. He was supposed to be insensitive and cynical and poke at things until they broke.

(He’d never admit seeing Kat look at him like that scared him, in ways he really didn’t want to look deeper into)

He waits a little while longer, before he sees the train won’t be heading his way for some time, and he carefully jumps onto the railing. What the fuck is he doing this for?

He has no idea. But he was doing this anyways, and he still didn’t know why he was doing this. Each step forward is slow, steady. He wishes he’d brought the hand magnet so he could walk along the side of the rail, but he supposed hindsight was 20/20.

(He shouldn’t want to visit her, she could fend for herself just fine.)

He takes a seat on the rails, presses his forehead against the cold metal, and groans. What a fucking time to develop a conscience about a girl he hadn’t seen in fucking years. But there was no stopping. He had no idea how far he’d gotten, instead slowly trekking on, trying to ignore the nerves bunching up in his stomach at the fact that there would be nobody to save him if he fell. He swallows nervously. Stupid him, thinking he could just walk here.

 _Something better actually be wrong or he was going to be so fucking pissed_.

He hated wasting his time, and as he made himself take a break, he was already starting to think that this whole venture was a massive waste of it. All he had was a gut feeling and a desire to put old ghosts to rest, and even then, a bigger part of him railed against the idea of seeing her again. The reasons behind it wasn’t something he was willing to look too closely into, but at the same time, his urgency that had gotten him this far wouldn’t let him let the whole damn mess go away.

The fuzzy outline of the abandoned station comes into view, and he gives a tired sigh of relief, hopping off of the rail onto proper, solid ground. Nobody in the station is looking his way – they’re all huddled around a trash can, giving him darkly considering looks. He’s quick to get out of their line of sight, pattering up a set of stairs and making his way into the more open areas of Endestria. It’s gotten worse since his last visit, and he bites his lip, looking around to see if he could find her and just confirm that it was just his pessimism talking.

It takes him the better part of half an hour wandering around before he sees blonde hair and… white? He’d expected the black of her outfit, the thick tumbling strands sticking to the back of a white shirt. Why wasn’t she wearing her outfit? He chases after her, and the two end up in an empty plateau, just above the old garbage disposal when she stops and turns to face him.

“…” She doesn’t say anything, and Eugie begins to feel nervous, swallowing down his anxiety as he gets a good look at her.

She looks fucking _terrible_.


End file.
